Terrible new case out of Springfield, MO involving 10-year-old Hailey Owens, who was reported missing two days ago. Due to the assistance of eyewitnesses to her abduction, who provided a description of the vehicle in which she was abducted and the license plate number, police have recovered her remains and arrested a suspect, 45-year-old Craig Michael Wood, of Springfield, MO.

According to the probable cause statement, a woman was in her garage around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday when she saw Wood’s Ford Ranger pull up to Owens and ask her where Springfield Street was. The witness said Hailey tried to walk away from the vehicle, but Wood opened the door of his truck and said “Hey, come here for a minute,” extending his hand to her, motioning for her to come over.

The witness says Wood lunged out of the vehicle and grabbed Owens with his left hand and threw her into the truck “like a rag doll.” He then drove away from the scene at a high rate of speed. According to court documents, it’s believed Owens was walking home from a friend’s house.

“Our witnesses said it happened just that quick,” Police Chief Paul Williams said.

Neighbor Carlos Edwards told the Springfield News-Leader he ran after the truck as his wife tried to get the license plate number after seeing the abduction. Police say another witness got into a car and tried to pursue Wood’s vehicle, but lost track of it.

Based on the information provided by the witnesses, police obtained a search warrant for the residence of Craig Michael Wood, 45, an athletic coach and teacher’s aide at Pleasant View, a K-8 school in the Springfield Public Schools system. Hailey was not a student at this school and apparently did not know Mr. Wood.

During the search, they found her dismembered body in two plastic garbage bags in the basement and arrested Mr. Wood.

Authorities say Wood pulled up in the truck, belonging to his father, around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday as officers were waiting for him at his home in the 1500 block of E. Stanford St.

The officers approached Wood as he got out of the truck, and noticed he had a roll of duct tape in his hand. When he saw the officers, he threw the duct tape into the bed of the truck.

Ligature marks were found on her arms and she died from a single gunshot wound to the base of her skull. Police recovered a spent .22 caliber casing from the basement.

EDIT: Apparently she was not dismembered. Her body was folded over at the waist and double-bagged rather than bagged in two separate bags. I apologize for my mistake and any confusion that it might have caused.

Something strange. When he was arraigned, the reporter said that Wood seemed surprised (raised his eyebrows) at the charge of armed action involving a gun. He worked. He may have owned his own small home. He was driving his FATHER’S TRUCK, though. There seems to have been a binder containing child pornography netted in the search of his house.

Is it possible that the kidnapping and the other crimes were committed by more than one person?

(7) The murder in the first degree was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, or depravity of mind;
(10) The murder in the first degree was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with, or preventing a lawful arrest or custody in a place of lawful confinement, of himself or another;
(12) The murdered individual was a witness or potential witness in any past or pending investigation or past or pending prosecution, and was killed as a result of his status as a witness or potential witness;
(12) The murdered individual was a witness or potential witness in any past or pending investigation or past or pending prosecution, and was killed as a result of his status as a witness or potential witness;

(15) The murder was committed for the purpose of concealing or attempting to conceal any felony offense defined in chapter 195;

(16) The murder was committed for the purpose of causing or attempting to cause a person to refrain from initiating or aiding in the prosecution of a felony offense defined in chapter 195;

These are the potential issues in the Wood case, that may come up, surrounding the issue of- will the death penalty apply in this case?

There are also several mitigating factors, such that the death penalty may not apply. An example of a mitigating factor is age. In Missouri, if a defendant is age 16 or under, they can not be sentenced to death.

This will be an initial court appearance. The purpose is:
-The court will explain his rights to him.
-Counsel will be confirmed.
-The affidavit of probable cause will be reviewed for probable cause.
-The issue of release on bail will be considered.
-The intertwined issues of flight risk as well as connections to the communities will be considered.
-The question regarding the community is, is there a set of conditions to be imposed, to ensure safety to the community.
-He is a danger to the community, there is no set of conditions and
-bond will be denied.
-This is an initial appearance, and not an arraignment.
-He will be detained without bail.
-The grand jury will meet and there will be an indictment.
-At that time, there will be an arraignment, and he will plead not guilty, which is standard in a case such as this one.

Of course she believed what she wanted to believe, for her own reasons. Like Maddie, she gave an incomprehensible interview, coming up with some really stupid statements that were wrong on their face. But if you try to argue with a person who forms her beliefs from “tossed salad thinking,” you can’t achieve anything trying to appeal to logic.

I think this juror:

(a) wanted it to NOT be about race;
(b) has/had no affection for young African American males;
(c) wants to be seen as a magnificently unusual and fascinating person who rises head and shoulders above others because of her unique qualities; and
(d) feels really great now, feels like FINALLY history has found her and given her a bit of the distinction she always knew she deserved.

When folks stop raving over her public coming out party (either positively or negatively) she may come to realize that she has been used and discarded and it all may taste very different to her then.

Oh, and the arrogant comment that she would say to Jordan’s parents “I fought hard for your son,” that’s in a category with Maddie’s disgusting comment that “I felt worse than Trayvon Martin’s mother.”

Both the jurors interviewed, so far, appear to be malleable. IOW, they are not going to really try to fight someone who is holding out for a hung jury, nor are they going to say anything that is “not nice. IMO, there must have been one hard nut fight for a conviction, otherwise a hard holdout would have run roughshod over these two to get a not-guilty. That is how Fogen got off. There was no one with stones to back Trayvon.

Listening to the news tonight, I am of the understanding that Hailey was not dismembered. They mention two totes stacked, but one had papers in it and the other had the body. She was folded in half and placed inside two trash bags. They had a visual example. It was one trash bag inside another trash bag. Double-bagged. I re-read the police report and believe this is true. I also thought she was in two bags and two totes until seeing the news.

I wonder if Wood was sloppy because he wanted to get caught – that’s apparently sometimes a factor with serial killers.

@

Just as one can not see a forrest when you concentrate on a single tree an vice a verca .

Its wrong to label such monsters serial killers .

This particular peice of human exreament appears to be a peadaphile with a lust for young girls,

The Killing may or not play some part in his sick perversion..
More likely Its just his way of dissposing of his object of lust once he has finished ,
He objectifys his victims as nothing more than his sexuall deviant wants come to friutition.
Often lust killers whom have struck often an got away with it do become more an more brazen
.
I doubt its a subcounsious want to get caught but more that when they see an ideal victim who fufills there needs.

They laser In on the victim an the fact that theres a high risk of detection..

Becomes imaterial
There desires overwhelm them makeing them blind to all but there target.

The environment around there victim becomes a forrest an there victim the Tree.

Colin, We still don’t know if he raped this child. He may not have had time if that was his motive. Also, we don’t know if he had a preference for children. Not all violent offenders have an age preference. For some it is a matter of convenience. The kid in Colorado is a prime example.
He will be subjected to numerous evaluations over the months to come, and as the professor stated LE will do their best to determine if he can be tied to any other crimes or missing person cases. Right now he is not speaking.
I was talking to a coworker today (a psychologist who has extensive experience working with violent offenders) and he agreed that it is almost unheard of for a man his age to go from zero to murder of a child. If this man has never killed before, he is a rare case.

Lord, this is exactly why I sit outside when my kids are playing. I don’t let any of my children walk alone, not the boys or the girl, they like to say I’m overprotective, but I know this cruel world we live in. a world where people pry on the weak and on our children like, Dunn, Zimmerman, Castro, and this bastard! Something have to change with this justice system, when you can get off for murdering a kid, get a couple of years for sexually assaulting a child or probation and your name added to a damn list, but get 30 years for a drug crime I say again something is Damn wrong. People that harm our children should never see the light of day again.

Amen to that.
One thing I can pretty much guarantee, Craig Wood will be facing the DP and based upon cases of this nature committed in Missouri, will get the DP if he doesn’t plead guilty, in exchange for taking the DP off the table.

There is absolutely no rhym or reason. It is so sad that children are not safe in their own neighborhood. Parents can’t even feel safe to allow their children to leave the house unaccompanied. The scary thing is the presence of adults did not deter him.
At least for once the family is not coming out in his defense. Instead his father has been quoted as sharing in the communities shock, despair and anger over this tragedy. The parents cooperated fully with LE during their investigation, and have in no way tried to claim this couldn’t have been their son. At least so far.

Hailey did everything right too – ignoring the man. So parents will now have to provide further teaching –
Don’t talk on the cell phone while walking.
Pay attention. Be aware of your environment.
If someone asks for directions or calls to / approaches you, move quickly towards safety.

Maybe parents need to escort children home
@
Good advice except the cell phone .

Tell them to not only get on cell phone but to either if possible dial emergency number straight away so perp can hear.

I know most Children are not sophisticated to be aware an calm when faced with stranger danger.
But I f she had switched her converstion as to one with an imaginary emergency telephone operater.Describe make of car licence plate ect.

One thing I teach my children, is that an adult is smarter than you, they know more than you, there is nothing they should have to ask you . I tell them never say a word when an adult ask them for any information, they are to take off running screaming fire, because Americans don’t respond to the word help as we learned from the Zimmerman trial. Its an old saying but I tell them its better to be a live chicken than a dead duck. Run baby and fight that’s what I teach them.

Great idea. My point about the cell phone is that it seemed that the child was more interested in talking with the other person than dealing with the man. She ignored him. If she would have focused on the situation (aware that she was in possible danger versus viewing the man as a distraction to her call), she might have made an even better choice of action.
I pictured the situation that she wasn’t even looking at the man, so he could easily get out of the car and easily grab her and toss her “like a rag doll”….
In adding more details, it looks like i’m blaming the victim. No – just means that parents need to teach children to not be distracted by talking to their friends and be oblivious to what is going on around them.
OTOH, if the child had not been distracted by the phone call, perhaps she would have approached the man and helped him with directions. I like to hope that there is a way for children to avoid being kidnapped and harmed.

But as “The Art of War” teaches, the VICTIM does not know what is formulating in the mind of the PERP. A child is walking along talking on the cell phone. OK. Should she be watching out all around herself like a soldier in Falujah? One cannot live one’s life that way, child OR adult. In fact, constant fear of the dangerous other is the attitude that produces murderers like Fogen. I don’t think there’s any lesson to be learned about the victim’s conduct in this case; there’s a lesson to be learned about how our society will deal with this crime, of course, and how our society will deal with this criminal. But I am so TIRED of getting my graduate degree over and over and over again in this subject…

At least the neighbors, the police and the bystanders (and the victim) did what we hope our citizens will always do: try to protect and obtain justice for the VICTIM, not enhance and embolden the perp.

Someone on another blog wondered why the Dunn trial didn’t get as much attention as the Zimmerman trial. The main reason is that Zimmerman was not charged. It was in your face that murder of a black kid was so okay that the police didn’t charge a person. With Dunn, he was charged and held without bail. So the huge population didn’t have to be as vigilant to make sure justice would be carried out.

JJ, same reason all the other black on white or black on black or white on white, asian, HIspanic, purple doesn’t gain national attention – the perps are arrested and mostly adequately prosecuted, except non-violent crime seems to get people in more trouble than violent crime. : /

Apparently, he grew up in Springfield and graduated from high school there.

People who knew him are stunned.

The article says he is going to be arraigned tomorrow, but I believe it’s an initial appearance for the judge to go over his rights with him, confirm counsel, review the affidavit for probable cause and consider setting conditions of release.

The affidavit establishes probable cause (reasonable grounds to believe he committed the crimes charged) and bail ain’t going to happen for this guy.

Look for him to be detained without bail to be followed by a grand jury indictment within the next few weeks.

Thanks for letting me know. I checked the weather.com site and the severe weather is a wide band from Louisiana + Mississippi to Ohio. My family in Louisiana is affected by this severe weather threat. Hope that you’all have a safe place to be and that the threat does not result in any damage or harm to you or your loved ones.
There are usually 67 tornadoes to date, but in 2014 there have only been 4.

OT: It is a weekday afternoon and it sounds like a freaking war zone outside. Steady gunfire. Non-stop, for the past several minutes. I don’t mind if people do some target practice, but this is ridiculous, they need to take it to the range. Little kids outside, neighborhoods, and just bam bam bam bam bam bam bam BAM BAM bam bam.

I used to live in the country near a parcel of state land. Very peaceful and it was outside town limits in the county, so houses spread out on acreage. Once in awhile someone would go out shooting in there. – probably shooting bottles or cans. Not a big deal – plenty of room . But one day I watched an idiot dressed in camoflague (sp – sorry) walking up and down the fenceline shooting at god knows what, right along the road which has homes on acreage along the other side of the road – like uh, my house, with children in it.. I called the SO to complain, because I felt it was unsafe – after all, I could have ended up with a bullet through my house, and I’ll be damned if the SO wouldn’t do a damn thing about it. For one thing, technically you’re supposed to have a permit to even WALK on state land, though many people liked to hike and walk their dogs there, for another, I don’t think it was any type of hunting season and even if it was, this was just a parcel of state land, and leased by a rancher to run his cows on (there were other critters like deer, javelina, pronghorn, probably cougar and once a baby bear showed up out of there — but the parcel was surrounded on at least three sides with homes, so it wasn’t all at safe for hunters and likely not allowed under state law. So yeah, that bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, can be lots of fun until some icareless person hurts someone.

Well, exactly. This small area around here has woods for sure, but it is not in the middle of the woods by any means. Plus, people walk in the woods, and walk along the creeks. It is more residential than woods, and there are many children, and I would say that a majority of the families have pets. I really don’t think they are supposed to be doing this around here. There are ‘no hunting’ signs posted as well. They need to go to an uninhabited area, or a range, IMO. Plus, it is loud, and annoying.

On the home front, I’m quite disturbed. I’ve been happy that S. Cali has restrictive conceal carry laws and that for the most part, people don’t carry outside their homes unless they have good reason – not just fear, but for career reasons, business people carrying valuables and cash, etc. This limited the number of people who had permits. Good cause also mandated that you show evidence of a clear and present danger to life or of great bodily harm to the applicant.

Then I wake up to a headline that Orange County SO is easing permit rules for concealed guns because of “a recent federal court appellate decision that deemed many urban counties in California to be overly restrictive in saying who can an who can’t carry a concealed weapon.” Previously there was a good cause standard that makes total sense.

Watcha wanna bet that shootings increase, that we end up with SYG, and well, you get the picture . . . I felt relatively safe here in the big city surburbs without the presence of a lot of guns, even with gang activity and the sheer numbers of unpredictable people.

However, San Diego County is appealing the matter and it may affect Orange County’s adoption of it and people who get a new permit may have to reapply. And of course each urban county has their version of what good cause is, so some may be stricter than others. OC has traditionally been a conservative stronghold (though getting a little less so)- but don’t forget, this is where murdering cops Ramos and Cicinelli just waltzed out of a Santa Ana courtroom with not guilty verdicts for the beating death of Kelly Thomas.

Now I don’t, because although I have nothing to fear from responsible gun owners, we all know damn well there will be plenty of non-responsible gun owners rushing out to maintain their “God-given” 2nd amendment rights.

The Charley Project profiles over 9,000 “cold case” missing people mainly from the United States. It does not actively investigate cases; it is merely a publicity vehicle for missing people who are often neglected by the press and forgotten all too soon.

“Results
Visible Stains. As the original bloodstains
faded and were washed off by rain, they left
behind an outlined image of the original
x-shaped bloodstain. This appears to indicate
that despite the volume of blood present,
the stain failed to penetrate the concrete
immediately below the original deposition.
However, as the rain washed the blood away
from the original stain, the diluted blood
stained the surrounding concrete. This resulted
in an outlined image of the original stain
(Figure 3).
With time, the weathering washed away the
original surface deposition of blood and the
stains left in the concrete became increasingly
faint. Figure 4 shows the progression of grid
5M from day 1 to day 376 under normal
lighting. The visits to the site were more
frequent during early stages of the study
when the visible changes to the pattern were
more rapid and became less frequent as the
difference was less dramatic. By day 6, the dried
blood volume on the surface of the cement had
already largely washed away and left only the
outline described above. This outline persisted
until day 95, by which time…”

At mid-morning Wednesday, police confirmed another crime scene related to this case is at Dutch Maid Laundry, 526 S. National Ave., near Elm Street. That’s a laundromat. FBI agents were looking through the washers and dryers there. They were there from about 3 a.m. until about 10:30 a.m., when the business reopened.

I suspect this crime may be the work of a serial killer because of how quickly he dismembered the body and packaged the parts in 2 plastic garbage bags for easy and quick disposal. He also cleaned the area where he dismembered the body.

Apparently, he didn’t have any duct tape to complete the packaging process and went out to acquire some.

Police arrived at his house a few minutes before he returned. He had the duct tape in his hands when he got out of his vehicle.

If he had enough duct tape on hand to complete the task, he might have gotten away with her body before the police arrived and disposed of the plastic bags at widely separated locations by weighting them down and depositing them in bodies of water or burying them in remote locations.

Prosecutors might not have been able to convict him without her remains.

I don’t believe she is his first kill and I suspect local authorities and the FBI are investigating that possibility.

One other thing to consider, given the speed with which he dismembered her body is his conviction for poaching. How much do you want to bet there is animal cruelty in is past.
Word has it he has never been married, so plenty of time to go out on the hunt.

Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of mayhem in exchange for ONLY eight years in prison. Norwood was sentenced to ONLY four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assault causing great bodily injury.

June 5, 2013…. SWAT found NO drugs, guns, money or stolen property on AJ’s person, in his apartment, nor in AJ’s or Shanel’s vehicles. However Poncho was busted with 21.6 grams of methamphetamines in his pocket.

Per AJ’s attorney Dennis Hartley (Timothy McVeigh) ALL evidence against AJ is circumstantial hearsay by Janine, Poncho and Undercover Police Officer (who only saw an arm sticking out of a car window).

Janine and Poncho’s immunity was contingent upon AJ’s choice to go to trial. If AJ took a plea bargain of 24-48 (1st offer in Sept. 2013) (2nd offer in Nov. 2013) and last offer of 12 Stipulated (3rd offer in Jan. 2014… Stipulated meaning not more than 12 years) they could keep their immunity, however if in fact AJ chose trial, the terms of their immunity would be revoked if they didn’t testify against him, in turn they would be prosecuted for drugs, money and guns.

AJ’s choice # 1
1) Go to trial and have Poncho, Janine and Undercover Cop testify against him.
a) AJ was on parole
b) AJ is a 3rd Strike Felon
c) Not getting a jury of his peers
d) Black Man
e) Tattoos

Guaranteed AJ would be convicted of Special Offender Charges in Colorado:
1) Drugs w/ access to gun (no drugs, money, stolen property & no gun were found)
2) Drugs within X(?) proximity to school (AJ lived across the street from middle school)
3) Convicted felon (yep)

AJ was also told he was going to be charged with possession, manufacturing and distribution. Three (3) more felony’s putting him over the 3 Strike Law… 48-64 yrs. which also could and probably would be doubled and extended 96-144 yrs. if he went to court and was found guilty. Guaranteed he would be, based on the testimony of “Poncho” Janine and the Undercover Officer, AJ’s 3rd strike, a jury of white people NOT his peers who see a young black man as guilty just because of his skin color. Remember a large segment of the white population harbors the view ALL black males are dangerous.

AJ’s choice # 2
1) 12 years Stipulated, no additional time or sentencing could be added
2) Time served: 8 months to be applied to his sentence = 1 yr off
3) Good time based on 10 days credited to his sentence every month
4) The opportunity to get into the SWIFT Program (State Wildland Inmate Firefighting Team) = Day for day time served (fire school, firefighting, cutting fire trails etc. works 30 days gets 30 days Good Time Credit plus $300 a month)
5) Free classes and education toward and degree
6) Due to all of the above AJ may be able to work off/serve 1/3 of his time and be released in 4-6 years

Only positive note here is that the LAPD actually caught them. I remember when it happened, authorities were seeking the publics help and for awhile had nothing. When law enforcement does it’s complex job well, it deserves credit.

I’m not good at writing so please bear with me a moment. Last nite this article was placed on the dunn case so wen I read the comments on this child being murder , the comments was stating how people value the death of trayvon as a thug.. I can only imagine what this beautiful innocent child saw in her last moments of life..

Hailey did everything right too – ignoring the man. So parents will now have to provide further teaching –
Don’t talk on the cell phone while walking.
Pay attention. Be aware of your environment.
If someone asks for directions or calls to / approaches you, move quickly towards safety.

Actually, they were at his home and waiting for him within three hours of the abduction. They conducted a welfare check for her soon thereafter, discovered what they believed to be remains in a tote in the basement, obtained a search warrant and found her body around 3:00 a.m.
Given the timeframe, and all of the circumstances, I would say everything that could possibly have been done to save this child was done.
A friend’s niece lives in east Springfield and her daughter attends the school Dunn taught at. People there are very supportive of the police response. They are much more concerned with the fact that a monster was lurking in their school system.

Just wondering. How could a citizen armed with a gun have changed the outcome of this incident in MO. How could they shoot without putting others in danger, shooting at tires of an escaping vehicle, … If they accidentally shot someone – even with good intentions – they could be a defendant in a trial.

And I’m trying to figure out is that why is wood still alive. Forgive me. Last nite I read the article and I actually seen a few zimmerman suPporters crusing trayvons death over this child.. I have played the tape out of this horrific death of this little girl ..

I know I have said that I am against the death penalty, but in a case like this, I kind of reconsider. I mean there is NO reason for this at all. NONE!!! He didn’t even know this kid. When it comes to something like this, I can see no reason he should live.

Just took an unhurried look at Dunn’s “Black Friday” letter. I think he had help penning this, and that it was designed to deceive.

Within the first two graphs he sets up to both place and deflect blame.

To avoid looking like a clod who sends his girlfriend in for wine while sitting on his ass, Dunn claims the SUV was “parked too close” to the line “of its space for me to exit.”

Snort.

Only after parking, he says, did the “blaring” start up. So how long was Rhonda dilly-dallying in the parked car before going into the store? She claimed he said he hated that “thug music” and that she said “I know.” He claimed he said “rap crap.”

Did either of these two dunderheads consider reparking their car elsewhere … or just moving on without the gas station wine?

I think Dunn was spoiling for trouble and deliberately squeezed into that space. i

On any retrial, the State needs to eviscerate Dunn with details of that letter.

I think instructions to write that letter and word combos like “racial diatribe” etc. were supplied by counsel. Not necessarily Strolla, who came in later, but maybe that first attorney who was busy blathering to the media and who got dumped.

To I’m wondering if old bastard dunn writes to Ronda now I’m thinking ah not.
I wonder what would have happened if poor old Ronda refused to get in the car that night.
I keep thinking of the song Help me Ronda.
About the poor child murder I’m not sure if my mind can take anymore filthy people at the moment.
How the parents cope I will never understand and with such grace.

If Rhonda had refused to get in car, he could have vamoosed without her. Not good for him.

But if he’d stuck around to fetch her until after cops came, he wouldn’t have been accused of leaving scene, going to hotel for drinkies, pizza and shuteye, and heading on home without calling cops. Lately, he likely could have gotten bail.

By meekly following Dunn’s orders, Rhonda had access to what happened after shooting (he never mentioned a shotgun to her) and ended up helping the jury that convicted this liar.

TrainedObserver It was very interesting reading your thoughts on what could have happened if Ronda had not gotten in the car.
So the conclusion is good that she did but luck Shawn Aikens got the plate number.
One thing The asshole should not have done was get on the stand.Wonder whose brilliant idea that was.
Guess he thought if he couldn’t dazzle them with his brains he’d baffle them with his bullshit.
It didn’t work quite as we’ll as he expected thank god.

He had no choice because he would not have gotten a self-defense instruction without testifying. Until he testified, there was no evidence of self-defense. Without evidence of self-defense, the judge could not have instructed the jury on self-defense.

My god…snd I bet people thought he was such an upstanding citizen with a good reputation……..you knever know who a perdon really is…..yes their past history may be an indication of the type of individual they are but many prople are good at hiding their true colors….they are seen as a certain type of individual where as they might be the exact opposite in their home life……………….and too think we tend to look down on drug users and alcoholics and thieves and expect that tyoe of behavior from them…….when child abusers come from all classes and socioeconomic bacground….they are teachers, pastors,policeofficers, construcyion workers and the list goex on and on

Good morning LLMPapa. It is a terrible case. Made me run and pull up the missing persons map of Missouri. Aside from the two large Missouri cities St. Louis and Kansas City, Greene County has the largest number of missing persons. Could be a total coincidence, but somehow I think police are looking at that. Here is the map I am referring to:

Maybe they will, but Let’s hope they have a competant legal proceedings to ascertain his guilt or innocense… first! Not that it always works too good. You got to keep rule of law in there ya know, or else, they ain’t much to hold things together, in these weird times.

I am speculating (and maybe I shouldn’t!) that the duct tape he was holding, and that he tossed into the truck bed when the police arrived- that he was planning to use the tape to seal the bags- and then conceal the body somewhere else. This is pure speculation at this point, but odd that he would not want the police to see the tape, if his intention was to use it for ordinary repair in the home, for example.